Shame

well?”
    Caleb’s hands stopped moving. “Yes.”
    Holt backed off, changed subjects, but both of them knew the subject was far from closed.
    “We’re trying to get a handle on a lot of things, Cal,” said Alvarez.
    Holt, ever affable, nodded at that assessment.
    “And we were wondering if you could help us along with this whole matter.”
    “What do you mean?” Caleb asked.
    “I think it’d make it easier on you and us both if you’d consent to a polygraph.”
    “You mean a lie detector?”
    “It’s no big thing,” Holt said. “A guy asks you questions, just like we’ve been asking you.”
    Alvarez chimed in, “And this way you tell us, ‘Hey, I was catching some Zs with my wife when that happened,’ or ‘I was at such and such a place at that time,’ and this thing’s able to corroborate what you say.”
    “Think of it as insurance for you,” said Holt.
    “’Course it’s all voluntary,” Alvarez said.
    “You mean do it now?” asked Caleb.
    “Good a time as any,” said Alvarez.
    Holt nodded, his head willing Cal’s to follow the same route.
    “It won’t take very long,” said Alvarez. “Got a guy who’s all set up to come in and do it right now.”
    “Everything goes right,” Holt said, “and we’ll all be home for dinner.”
    Elizabeth looked at her watch again. Seven o’clock. More than once she had thought about suggesting that Caleb’s interview session be terminated for the night, but to do that might jeopardize her newfound position of trust at the Sheriff’s Department. At the moment, she was the golden girl. The inner circle credited her for bringing Caleb to them. They thought she was on their side, which meant they were much more receptive to sharing information with her. They assumed she was there for the same reason they were—to be in on the kill. Still, they didn’t totally trust her. She had been asked to remain in a vacant office, had been kept away from the recording room where Caleb’s interview was being monitored by other sheriff’s homicide detectives.
    Detective Alvarez decided to throw her a bone. His eyes were shining, reflecting an ebullience that had been noticeably lacking among the investigators. He didn’t walk into her office so much as strut in. “We got him,” he said.
    Her eyes asked for more. Alvarez stopped his strutting long enough to give it to her: “Parker’s been talking to the box. BB—Barry Brooks—is working him. We called Barry this morning and had him waiting here in the hope that Cal might consent to the box. During break time BB offered us some preliminary results. Apparently our Mr. Parker is a liar. But that’s the least of his sins. According to the polygraph, he’s also a murderer.”
    Alvarez pointed his index finger at her, smiled, and started to walk out of the room.
    “Hey,” said Elizabeth. “You’re leaving me on that note?”
    “Our bird’s still wired and singing.”
    “Then how about giving me a few more notes?”
    Alvarez hesitated, then finally decided to offer a little more. “It was textbook,” he said. “BB’s going along all smooth, finessing him, and then out of the blue he asks, ‘Have you ever murdered anyone, Mr. Parker?’ And our boy Cal sort of gulps and then says, ‘No.’ According to BB, at that moment the polygraph all but went
tilt
.”
    Elizabeth did her best to match Alvarez’s broad smile. It inspired him to talk a little more.
    “Not only that,” he said, “we’ve even got motive on one of the murders. We did some checking this morning. Apparently Cal’s wife was involved with a certain Dr. Donald Jennings, father of Lita Jennings.”
    “Tell me—”
    “Can’t talk anymore. Got to get back.”
    “Are you going to book him tonight?”
    Alvarez made a little face. “That’s going to be the lieutenant’s call,” he said. “My guess is we’ll wait until tomorrow just to make sure everything is bundled up tight.”
    He again pointed his index finger at her, winked, then walked out of the room.
    An hour later Caleb left the interview room. He was hoarse and terribly tired. Only when he had started slurring his words, and appeared ready to swoon, had the detectives reluctantly terminated the interview. Friendly to the end, they had advised him not to leave town until matters were “better clarified.” They also asked him to come back for “a few more questions” the next day.
    He had thought their questions would never end. Caleb had sweated through